Beneath the Sci Fi Channel

You know when the Sci Fi channel is at it’s best? Not when it’s churning out remakes of old shows, but when it’s showing them. Right now I’m enjoying a healthy bit of early 70s nastolgia thanks to a reshowing of Beneath the Planet of the Apes. My childhood seems to be filled with tons of Apes related memories, everything from the spin-off TV show (which was pretty much Starsky and Hutch with a bunch of apes) and even record albums.

Reading up on the movie it was the first sequal of the series, or the first step from being a cool 60s art film to a schlockmeister 70s sequel. Although the film has everything a fanboy could want: apes on the war path, mutant humans, the ruins of New York City, a few minutes with Charlton Heston, some gun action and horses, and the world blowing up at the end with a left over atomic bomb from the 20th century. And as with any apes flick the music is half the fun!

I think what makes this film work (and why it stuck in my head) is that they were willing to tell a story that would keep you going. Also not only were they willing to kill of the main character, but also blow up the entire planet. Of course this didn’t stop them from making prequals to bring back the apes for more entertainment. Besides how can’t you love a film that ends with:

“In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe, lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead.”

Here’s a trailer for the film: